March Madness at the Movies

Basketball fans may be glued to their TVs to cheer on their favorite teams during March Madness. But if that still isn’t enough court time, there are
plenty of movies celebrating the action on the hardwood. Josh Lucas stars in the movie Glory Road as coach Don Haskin who makes a gutsy and historic move in the 1960s when he signs on African American ball players.

Jeremy Lin might have caused Linsanity but he isn’t the first player of Chinese decent to cause a sensation in the NBA. The documentary The Year of the Yao follows another rookie player who makes the leap to
the big league. Basketball dreams compete with musical ambitions in the High School Musical movies.

Disgraced coaches get a chance to redeem themselves in Hoosiers and Rebound. In Coach Carter, an inner-city coach finds himself in trouble with his players, their parents and the rest of the school when he decides to lock the gym doors until his team gets serious about school. Another teacher uses the newly
developed game of basketball to help his students overcome prejudice during WWI inThe Basket. In an attempt to help his college’s team, The Absent-minded Professor irons his new invention “flubber” onto the soles of the players’ shoes to give the boys some extra bounce during their game. Basketball star Michael Jordon dribbles and shoots with the Looney Tune characters in the fantastical Space Jam.

About author

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.